The Baddest Villainess Is Back
Chapter 14
Chapter 14
* * *
Socialite rumors traveled faster than feet.
Naturally, they moved with more momentum than a galloping horse carrying a rider, and they inflated more rapidly than a balloon.
<A Dangerous Encounter Between Marquis Geron Wilbrid and the Modest Lady of the Bellion Family!>
<Rumors of Discord Between the Wilbrid Couple—Is This How It Becomes Reality?>
<A Couple in Crisis. A Dangerous Affair.>
Roselyn let out a hollow laugh as she skimmed the various headlines from various newspapers.
Whether they had seen the papers or not, someone from Pluie Boutique had personally sent a letter first thing this morning.
The contents were along the lines of an assurance that they had absolutely not opened their mouth.
Roselyn didn’t particularly think Pluie had talked, either.
It was simply that there had been quite a few people on that street that day, and among them, someone happened to have a loose tongue.
In truth, what had provided the certainty for them to use such provocative words was likely the dozens of dresses that had arrived yesterday.
A large carriage would have been necessary to deliver dozens of dresses.
Naturally, many people would have witnessed the process of them being moved.
The fact that the carriage, having departed from the currently trendy Pluie Boutique, arrived of all places at the Bellion Ducal residence.
And Roselyn Bellion, who had secretly visited the boutique with Geron Wilbrid about a week ago.
It seemed all these factors had overlapped to ultimately create a tawdry scandal.
And she was precisely for that reason invited to today’s formal dinner.
‘…This is driving me crazy.’
That day, the heat of anger had risen to her head, so she had simply let him spend money at the boutique however he pleased.
To think it would blow up like this.
‘No, maybe it’s for the better.’
If a scandal like this broke out, it would be easier to use it as an excuse to break off the engagement.
“I had things to say anyway,” Roselyn muttered softly with a tired expression.
‘It must be a problem for that side too.’
From the looks of it, he seemed to be putting in quite an effort to restore his relationship with the Marchioness.
“Not my concern.”
Since Geron Wilbrid’s misfortune was, on the contrary, her joy.
With a much more pleasant mood, Roselyn headed toward the garden where today’s dinner was to be held.
When she left her room and walked leisurely to the garden, most of the guests had already arrived.
Those already seated around the table turned their heads to look at her.
“Good afternoon, Your Grace. Thank you for inviting me.”
Roselyn offered a polite greeting and straightened her back.
The Duke of Bellion seemed to glance briefly at her bluish-toned dress before nodding shortly.
“Sit down.”
Today, there was also a man she was seeing for the first time. His hair, a mixture of silver and black, was an ethereal color.
And just like the Duke of Bellion, his eyes were of different colors.
With the piercings in his ears and his rowdy appearance, one could tell who he was without being told.
This was exactly the second time Roselyn had seen his face.
‘…It’s surprising to see the wastrel who almost never comes home.’
The Bellion Ducal House’s second son and resident scoundrel.
Roselyn’s second uncle.
Ian Bellion.
“What’s this? You look a bit less gloomy today.”
A rough, roguish voice asked mockingly.
Roselyn gave him a sidelong glance and took her seat.
The Bellion Ducal House was originally famous for having nobles who didn’t act much like nobles due to the Duke’s boisterous personality, but Ian Bellion was someone who existed on an entirely different level.
A man who made one wonder how such a person could be born into the Bellion family.
A genius of mischief whose brain worked better than anyone else’s when it came to playing pranks.
A child in a grown man’s body.
A crazy drunkard.
A total wastrel.
He had a great many modifiers.
In a certain sense, Ian Bellion was very similar to Roselyn.
‘And then he dies.’
He had failed to escape the Imperial family’s purge.
It was because Ian Bellion had been involved in an incident he could absolutely never get out of.
On top of that, Aegis had been absent, and by the time the purge began, the Duke’s health had started to decline, and with things exploding inside and out because of Lady Carmel, he had been out of his mind.
Roselyn slowly shifted her gaze from Ian to her father, then to the Duke, and finally to Aegis sitting next to him.
‘Since I’ve kicked Carmel out, it should be fine now.’
When Roselyn made eye contact with the Duke, she gave a habitual, thin smile.
The Duke flinched slightly and then cleared his throat with a “Ahem.”
“Let us eat for now.”
Roselyn inwardly clicked her tongue at the Duke’s fashion sense today, as he wore a flashy floral-patterned suit.
The meal was quiet.
Rather, it *had* been quiet.
That was, until Roselyn’s father, Cherti Bellion, suddenly opened his mouth when the meal was about halfway through.
“Roselyn, I am against this.”
At those out-of-the-blue words, Roselyn, who had finished her food and was only wetting her lips with wine, looked up.
Cherti was looking at Roselyn with somber, gloomily sunken eyes.
The jeweled earring in his ear dangled.
“What on earth could you be lacking that you would meet with a married man!”
“…….”
Roselyn’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“In any case, I am against it. So……”
“Father. If you’re referring to the newspapers, I don’t have that kind of relationship with Gerran.”
“……Gerran?”
Cherti’s voice, catching on Roselyn’s casual use of the name, trembled slightly.
“Marquis Gerren. We just happened to become acquainted, and it’s different from the rumors going around.”
“Yes. Gerren is a man whose true intentions are impossible to discern. Whatever were you thinking, meeting such a man……”
With a slightly tired air, Roselyn interrupted Cherti’s words and lightly raised her hand.
“I didn’t meet Marquis Gerren for those reasons, nor are we in that kind of relationship, Father.”
“……What?”
At Roselyn’s somewhat stiff words, Cherti’s eyes widened and then trembled faintly.
At that subtle gaze, Roselyn’s eyes thinned.
“And even if you don’t say it, I haven’t forgotten my place, so you don’t need to go through the trouble of sending those kinds of letters and flowers.”
Roselyn, who was reaching her limit with the flower gifts that hadn’t stopped for over two weeks, spoke honestly.
Cherti froze in place like a stone statue.
“……Your place? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the notes you send every single day,” Roselyn said with a weary face.
She didn’t know what kind of harassment this was, but she could no longer bear to look at the flowers that arrived daily or the notes with short phrases written on them.
“Things like how they’re flowers found everywhere, or flowers sold cheaply, or things you just picked up on your way.”
Furthermore, Roselyn wasn’t even the type to like strong scents.
“I know you don’t find me satisfactory, Father. I already know I’m not in a position to receive such things.”
It had been the same in the past.
Her father did not love her.
That single premise seemed to be something that didn’t change in any timeline.
Roselyn’s father was infinitely indifferent to everything, and on the days she dared to ask for something, he would set his mouth and refuse her harshly.
He wouldn’t even let her come near him.
There was a time when she had hoped he would hug her just once, but whenever she approached him, he would move away from her with a terrified look on his face.
So Roselyn had already learned resignation.
Just because the world had changed, she had no intention of trying to change the relationship like in some novel.
Because just as her father had erased her from his heart long ago, she too had erased him from hers.
That was why she decided to make her position clear.
These were words she hadn’t been able to say before.
“You might not believe it, but I’m grateful to you, Father, just for raising me this far.”
She meant this sincerely.
For someone like an illegitimate child, it was a thing to be thankful for just to have been raised until now.
“I have no shameless desire for anything more.”
Roselyn smiled faintly.
As soon as her words ended, the gazes of the Duke of Bellion, Aegis, and even Ian turned toward Cherti simultaneously.
Cherti was looking at the side of Roselyn’s face—she wouldn’t even meet his eyes—while frozen like a statue.
His fluttering lips were almost pitiful, and his shaking pupils were quite heart-wrenching.
“I only find it regrettable that I’m not exceptional enough to meet your expectations, Father.”
Cherti’s lips moved slightly.
He wanted to say that wasn’t it.
That she wasn’t an illegitimate child.
That it didn’t matter if she wasn't exceptional.
But his voice wouldn’t come out.
It was just as he managed to bring one of the many words swirling in his head to the tip of his tongue through his stammering lips.
The one who broke the silence was, once again, Roselyn.
